My Knight In Shining Armor
by Andromeda Rae Borealis
Summary: Takes place after Hanna's hospital release. Hanna/Caleb  Haleb , mentions of Sean and Lucas. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N. Story takes place after Hanna gets released from the hospital, pre Caleb-betrayal. I really really wanted to address the Sean and Lucas issues, which the show did not. I don't think they just disappeared off the edge of the world, so expect them to appear in the next few chapters. **

**This story is actually my return to the FF stage. Nervous as hell, but excited as well.**

**Enjoy! (:**

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"Where will you be?"

"I'm heading straight home." It wasn't a total lie. She just didn't want Sean to freak out over Lucas again.

Hanna smiled as Sean placed a firm kiss on her cheek before heading off to his football practice. She walked slowly to her locker. The hallway was nearly empty, save for a few students getting early release from detention or those who just chose to stay back in school for a little while longer. She didn't take any notice of them, and just went back to her own business. She pulled out her math notebook. She would need that for homework later. Shutting her locker and stuffing the notebook in her handbag, she walked gracefully towards the yearbook room.

"Hanna! You made it," Lucas greeted her from behind the laptop in the middle of the room, almost immediately as she stepped in. He was the only one in the room, being a hard worker and putting the most effort into the production of the yearbook. Hanna admired him for his dedication. She simply smiled and sat down on the chair next to him. She had felt awkward about the kiss in the hospital, but Lucas was her friend, and she had made it clear to him about it too.

"You said you needed my help on something?" she asked, putting her handbag down on the floor.

"Yeah, the yearbook committee is planning this year's Mid-Year Ball, and I really need your help in thinking of well, the theme," Lucas replied, blushing. He couldn't help staring at her eyes, the way her hair rested perfectly on her shoulders- He shook his head, snapping himself out of the trance. He scolded himself silently. _Boundaries, remember!_

Hanna grinned and shrugged, taking control of the mouse and googling a few costume ideas. "We could do Pirates. Or Mermaids," she said, shrugging. She had struggled with weight problems over the past few years and now she really wanted to show off her figure. She earned it through every single fighting minute in fat camp.

"Mermaids?" Lucas repeated, imagining Hanna in a bikini and feeling a blush creep up his neck. He covered his neck with his hands in an attempt to hide it. Hanna took a quick glance and looked away quickly again. This was getting too awkward for her to continue. She felt bad for being this nice to him sometimes. _Maybe if I'd been mean to him, he wouldn't have such a crush on me. I wouldn't have to hurt his feelings. But you're not that kind of person, Hanna._

Hanna quickly got up, continuing to avoid Lucas's gaze. This wasn't going to take any more awkwardness. "I'll see you soon, Lucas," she said. She bit her lip, grabbing her handbag and heading to the door without waiting for his reply.

"Hanna? What the hell?" Sean's voice roared down the hallways just as she stepped out of the room. She stayed rooted to the spot, momentarily terrified, not knowing what to do.

"I-uh, I…" she tried to defend herself as he ran up towards her, grabbing her wrist roughly?

"You still hang out with him?" he yelled jabbing a finger towards the door of the yearbook room, ignoring looks from the hallways. "He's a complete creep and he's trying to ruin our relationship. He's bad news, stay away from me, you hear?"

Hanna tried to wriggle her arm free "Sean, you're hurting me…" she whimpered, completely helpless.

"Oi, King Kong over there, let the lady go."

She turned towards the unfamiliar voice. She studied the boy carefully. She hadn't seen him before…

"Who the hell are you to tell me how I should treat my_ girlfriend?_" Sean asked, puffing his chest out, moving menacingly towards the boy with the disheveled hair.

"I'm Caleb Rivers. Know my name and know my fist," the boy said, delivering a sucker punch to Sean's stomach and pulling Hanna away in one swift motion.

Sean stumbled, taking a few steps backwards. He grimaced in pain, but tried to hide it. "I'll get you back for this. You don't know who you're dealing with, Rivers."

"Will you come attacking me with your pointy plastic crown, prom king? Shivers man, shivers," Caleb said, rolling his eyes and walking coolly towards the entrance of the school. Hanna followed him blindly till they reached the parking lot.

"Escort's over princess. You handle yourself from here," Caleb said in a cocky tone.

"Thanks. I think. You do realise by insulting Sean as the prom king, you're insulting me too since I'm prom queen?"

"Right, princess, off you go," Caleb replied, rolling his eyes. He smirked at the girl. He couldn't deny, she was really charming and alluring for a queen bee.

"And that makes you what, my knight in shining armor?"

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**R&R please. Compliments and contructive criticism welcome. (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for all the feedback guys! I hope you don't mind this being not a one-shot! (:**

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It was only a week later that Hanna decided to properly thank him and make some conversation with him.

She saw him just as she stepped out to front steps of the school. Caleb stood as cool as a cucumber, leaning against the stone staircase wall. His eyes roamed around the student populace, as if looking for someone. Students poured out around him, in pairs or groups, chattering excitedly. But he was alone. She was alone too. Her other best friends all had something on. Aria had a date with you-know-who. Spencer had a study circle to facilitate. Emily was at a swimming practice. Hanna felt like everyone's eyes were on her. Queen bee walking home alone? She fiddled with her fingers, trying to make up her mind, before taking a deep breath and approaching her "savior" from a week before.

"You're not going home?" she asked, not bothering to start with the awkward greetings.

"Who? Me?" he asked, smirking. She realised he was probably thinking, _How do you care?_

"I just wanted to er, thank you for your help, and-"

"In fact, if you could do me a favor now, step to one side for me," he said. Hanna moved to his side, a puzzled expression on her face. A shifty looking sophomore approached the pair, cocking his eyebrow at Hanna, before turning his attention back to Caleb.

Caleb nodded, passing a black device of some sort to the sophomore, who then in turn slipped something to Caleb – Hanna couldn't see clearly what it was.

"What is it exactly do you do?" Hanna asked directly, immediately after the sophomore went out of earshot.

"Haven't you heard that curiosity killed the cat?" he replied. He couldn't help but secretly glance at Hanna. It was probably one of the first conversations he had had with someone outside of detention.

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Look, if you're selling illegal drugs or something, I won't tell." She doubted he was that kind of person though. Sure he might look like the typical bad boy her mother would tell her to be wary of, but after his actions last week-

"Drugs? What the hell, Marin! I'm not here to peddle any to you if that's what you're into," he said, eyes widening in surprise, a cocky grin spreading on his face.

Hanna wanted to retort something snarky, but she suddenly felt a vibration in her purse. She pulled out her phone and opened the new text.

_Cozying up to the new boy Hanna? I don't think Sean would like that very much. –A_

Hanna whipped her head up and looked at her surroundings. She didn't spot Sean, which she supposed was a good sign. Anyway, she felt safe next to Caleb. She knew it was silly feeling like that just after that one time, but she somehow felt she could rely on this drably dressed, beanie wearing, boy with the ridiculously untamed mop of hair. Better to make friends then enemies right?

"I do that," he said shrugging, interrupting her train of thought.

He took one look at Hanna's reaction of confusion, then explained, "I fix phones. Upgrade them, give them better functions, more memory space, all that kind of stuff. In fact, if you'd like, I'd charge you only a small fee to make your phone work faster." He looked at Hanna eagerly, hoping to gain one more customer for the day. _And another step closer to Arizona._

Hanna raised her perfectly drawn eyebrow. _Can you make it track anonymous stalker messages, emails and photos?_ She wondered to herself, not daring to speak it aloud. She couldn't spare cash on that kind of stuff anyway, with her mother's situation and everything.

"Aren't you heading home now?" Caleb asked after it was clear she wasn't interested. As much as her presence was comforting to him, he still felt it was a little weird for her to hang around him. They were polar opposites. In his eyes, she was the top of the food chain, HBIC of Rosewood. While he was the outcast, he wasn't even in the food chain.

Hanna nodded in reply to his question. "Right, I am. Are you too? Where do you live? Are you heading to the right too?" she asked, pointing her finger to the right. She didn't like the feeling of being alone.

Caleb shook his head. _I don't have a home. I don't have a house to go to. This is where I live. _"You can go on without me," he said, looking away.

"It's okay, I'll wait. I've got time to kill. And I'm interested in seeing how your business works," Hanna said, smiling a genuine smile.

Caleb shook his head. "No, princess, you shouldn't hang around bad company like me," he said, an expression of indifference on his face. "Don't you have somewhere to be, some shop to raid, some manicure to attend or some spa treatment to go to?"

Hanna nodded slowly, slightly taken aback by his reaction. She didn't expect the new kid to judge her this quickly. "Right. Okay. I'll… see you then." She considered just waiting until Emily or Spencer was done so they could drive her home, but she didn't see the point of that since they both lived in the opposite direction from her. She smiled a tight-lipped smile, before heading home.

Caleb nodded back. He watched her walk home alone until he couldn't see her shadow anymore. He heaved his bag over his shoulder, and headed back through the doors of the school.

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**R&R. Reviews make me smile. (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. I'm currently having exams. ): I have so much more planned for this story! I'm excited for exams to end so I can write again yay. I was slightly worried about where I was taking Sean (into a dark, dark place) but I think it sets the Hanna/Caleb relationship. So I'm hoping it'll work out and everyone will like it.**

**Anyway, this chapter is slightly different, because there are jumps in time. I hope it doesn't get confusing, but here's 3 basic times: 1. a day before the dance-a-thon, 2. day of the dance-a-thon, 3. night of the dance-a-thon.**

**As usual, Read&Review! Reviews make my day. (:**

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The next day, Hanna got to school early. She avoided Sean who she seemed to keep bumping into. She decided to herself that it was going to take a while for her to show her face in front of Sean again.

But Sean still managed to find a way to catch her at her locker, talk to her, and before she knew it, she was saying "yes" to going to the dance-a-thon with him. He had looked and sounded slightly desperate, and she felt guilty for what she had done the week before. She frowned at Sean's retreating figure. She wasn't sure if she was happy she agreed to be his date though.

She felt a piercing gaze from behind her just as she turned back towards her locker.

She turned her head sharply to look into the amused eyes of a familiar raven haired boy.

"What?" she snapped, not having a great start to her day.

He simply shook his head and walked away. She mumbled a useless rant to herself about him needing to wash his clothes, shut her locker and walked off to class.

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Hanna touched up on her mascara in the girls' bathroom, careful not to smudge. She had to make sure she looked perfect. The dance-a-thon was tonight and she really wanted to make a lasting impression on everybody before the dance. She stared at her own reflection in the mirror. It was like the Hefty Hanna she was once known as had disappeared. And now she was looking at HBIC Hanna instead. She wasn't sure if she liked the change. She wondered if she seemed too fake to everyone. Sure, she looked prettier and felt prettier, but underneath was still a bit of Hefty Hanna. It reminded her of who she once was.

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Hanna spotted Emily just as she was taking a breather from all the morning madness. Her best friend was on the phone, sitting on the front steps of the school. She sounded worried and helpless, so Hanna couldn't help but intervene.

"Who was that from?" she asked just as Emily hung up.

"Maya's prison guard from True North. They won't let me talk to her. They programmed her phone so that only her parents can contact her. No texts, no emails, no nothing," Emily replied, frustrated, raking her hand through her hair.

Hanna nodded, listening with empathy. Among the other three, she had always been the most supportive one of Emily's relationship with Maya, and she really wanted Emily to be happy. She was momentarily distracted by the sight of Caleb. He was doing his shady phone deals again. She looked between her friend, who was holding her head in her hands in frustration and Caleb, who was waiting around for potential customers, and suddenly got a brilliant idea in her head.

"Em, give me your phone," she said, suddenly excited. "Just give it to me," she insisted, seeing the quizzical look on Emily's face, "you'll get it back soon, I promise. Then you can call your _honey _24/7." She grinned, holding her palm out for Emily's phone. She looked over to Caleb again, and the both of them and their eyes met for a brief moment, before Caleb was interrupted by a customer.

Emily looked over to who her friend was staring at. "That new kid? I heard he's shady… I don't trust him, Hanna," she said carefully. She held out her phone reluctantly under her friends' gaze.

"Just give me your phone. And he's not that bad as you make him sound. Just trust me," she said, grabbing Emily's phone and running after Caleb, who was making his way into the school hall.

"Caleb," she called after him breathlessly, nearly knocking into him because of how fast he had stopped. _It was like he anticipated she would come after him…_ She shook her head. "I need you help."

"God, Princess, what's it this time? Need a chauffeur for the dance tonight? If you're planning on riding a carriage, need a footman? Or you just need me to hold your purse?" he teased. The truth was that he was slightly bothered by the fact that she was going to the dance-a-thon with Sean. The idiot made him angry, for reasons he didn't really understand.

Hanna was slightly taken aback at his snappy reply. "I, uh, just need you to help me with this phone," she said slowly, blinking back at him.

Caleb bit his lip. He shouldn't have gone that overboard. "What do you need me to do with it exactly?" he asked, putting on a professional front.

"My friend needs to contact this number," she said, opening Maya's contact number on Emily's phone. "It's kind of urgent. Could you, say, get it done by today?"

Caleb thought about it for a while. Such a rush job might be sloppy and it meant he had to work on the phone in whatever free time he had, but Hanna looked so sincere in helping her friend.

"Sure, why not?"

Hanna smiled gratefully. "I'll pick it up from you later tonight then. Will you be at the dance-a-thon?"

"Probably. Why, want to dance with me?"

Hanna rolled her eyes, but with a smile on her face. She liked their banter. Most people just nodded and went along with whatever she said. But talking to Caleb was different. "Pfft, in your dreams."

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Hanna wasn't having the best night of her life. She thought she would smile by it and it'll all be over. But A was making her life effing hard. She wanted to slap whoever A was so hard. Breaking Lucas's heart was not what she planned to do.

"Do you have it?" she asked, following Caleb into the empty courtyard. Emily was already there, waiting eagerly for her phone.

Caleb nodded, not looking her in the eye. He had seen what Hanna had been doing the past hour, and it didn't paint a pretty picture of her now. He passed Emily the phone, in exchange for a wad of cash.

"I threw in some free ringtones, on the house," he called over to Emily, who was already busy dialing Maya.

"You charged her 3 times extra. That phone should have a built in lipstick," Hanna said.

"It was rushed job. You're lucky I didn't charge her more," he said shrugging, rolling his eyes and making his way back to the dance.

"You took advantage of her, you're such an ass," she said loudly.

"Leave a message for customer service after the beep," he said, turning around to face her.

She took a few steps towards him. "Wow, always working an angle aren't we?"

Caleb scoffed. "Like you aren't."

"You don't even know the first thing about me," she said, frowning.

"No, you don't know the first thing about you," he said, shaking his head and walking back and blending into the crowd.

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Sean slapped Hanna hard against the side of her face. The dance-a-thon had just ended, and Hanna had received a text from an unknown number asking her to meet Sean in the parking lot alone. She had assumed he lost his phone and borrowed someone else's, but now she knew wrong. _Stupid A._

She cradled her burning cheek, looking wildly around them to see if there was anyone around. To save her. But there wasn't. There was just the two of them.

She didn't know what had gotten into Sean. They ended their relationship badly an hour earlier during the dance, but she had no idea he was this mad. Another reason was that someone had spiked the punch bowl and Sean had drunk one too many cups. Hanna's eyes brimmed with tears of pain, but Sean wasn't sober enough to realise that.

He must have been really drunk, because the next thing she knew, he pulled her roughly towards him and kissed her full on the lips. A year ago, Hanna would have found that romantic, but now she was just terrified. Sean seemed to be on some bipolar rampage.

Hanna pushed him away and ran, running wildly and not caring whether her tears were smudging her makeup or how ugly and pathetic she must've looked. She kept running, till she bumped into a tall figure.

She shut her eyes. She hoped whoever that was, it wasn't Sean.

The person didn't say anything, but held her close to him and growled at Sean's approaching figure.

"Geez, can't you just keep your hands to yourself, King Kong?"

_Caleb. Why is he everywhere?_ Hanna thought, secretly thankful for his presence. Caleb pushed her gently to the side then proceeded to shove Sean backwards. Hanna watched on wide-eyed as the two of them fought. She winced each time they delivered hard-hitting blows to each other. She pressed down on her own bruised cheek and winced in pain. It was going to take a lot of concealer and foundation to hide the reddening. Sean's friends had managed to find their way towards the commotion after a few minutes and they pulled Sean away without looking at Caleb or Hanna in the eye.

Caleb made his way slowly towards Hanna. Although it was dark, she could see he had hurt his lip.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this," she said, looking down at his shoes.

Caleb laughed. "Blame it on my impeccable timing and knack for turning up at places where danger is."

Hanna smiled a small smile. "Thank you though," she said, finally lifting her head to look into his eyes.

Caleb shrugged. "No problem."

Hanna didn't know what had come over her, but she felt the sudden urge to kiss his cheek, and she did. She then pulled back quickly, not waiting for his reaction and went to find Emily and the rest.

Caleb stared in shock, feeling his cheek burn, but not because Sean had delivered a blow there just now. Sometimes he didn't understand himself. He grinned to himself and shook his head. He didn't even understand why he always went out of his way for one Hanna Marin. He was doing a pretty good job at this being a 'knight in shining armor' thing.

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_Princess Hanna picking a lowly commoner over a well-made prince? That's a story right there. -A_

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**READ AND REVIEW~!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I'm so sorry for not updating enough! I've been really busy with real life stuff, like exams and sports competitions! But I'll be updating really regularly soon! I promise. I have the whole month of June off from school, so loads of updates then. Till then, please be patient with me! I need to take time to write huge chapters for you! Here's a little snack for all of you first. :)**

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With the right amount of concealer and foundation, Hanna managed to cover up the bruise that was starting to form on her cheek. _Note to self, never make the star football player angry. _Of course, her mother did ask questions about the obvious handprint on her cheek, but Hanna looked away and lied every single time. Who would believe that the pastor's son was a violent alcoholic, slapping his own girlfriend?

Hanna's friends asked too. They asked that night when she got back to the rest of them, her eyes puffy from tears, and face flushed from running and being saved. When she didn't reply directly to any of their concerns though, they simply got ice for her cheek and treated her to ice-cream to feel better. If there were some things Hanna wanted to hide, they were okay with it.

The following Monday was treacherous to say the least. Not only did she have to make sure her bruised cheek wasn't showing she had to avoid three guys: Sean, Lucas and Caleb. She huddled in the center of her friends, so as to not grab any attention from the three "Unwanted-s". She opened her locker cautiously, and out fell out a note. She sighed; bending down to pick it up, noticing it had fallen on someone's shoe. That someone had apparently managed to sneak up next to her without her knowing. She looked up and looked directly into the eyes of Sean.

"Hey Hanna Banana," he said, a guilty smile on his face.

Hanna could tell he was just trying to butter her up, but it wasn't working. That slap was the last straw.

"We've already broken up Sean. Remember last night?"

"Right. I just wanted to tell you… I'm sorry." He put on his puppy dog eyes for forgiveness.

Hanna merely nodded, and grabbed her things quickly walking away. She went into her first period classroom, English with Mr Fitz, and settled down her things. She opened the note that was in her locker.

_Meet me after school. 4pm. The Cupcake Café. You'll know who I am when you get there._

Hanna flipped the note to the other side and back. There was no name signed. She was partly afraid of who she might be meeting, but it wouldn't harm to go. Right?


End file.
